New to management!

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Specializes in diabetic education, dialysis.

Hello happy to find you! I've been an RN since 1997. 13 years in the hospital, med/surg/renal then 4 years in hemodialysis. I'm 38, my kids are 10 and 14 and I'm excited to take my career to the next level.

I'm interviewing for a clinical manager position in NE Ohio. From what I hear I'm a favorite to get in but there could be a chance I'll end up back here telling y'all I didn't get it after all haha.

I'm having the typical doubts that I assume everyone has when making this leap. So I don't mean to make a totally vague post but what advice would you offer a new manager? How would you spend your first few weeks in your position? Do you lonely? I've always made friends easily (!) But I know I'll have to set certain boundaries.

Mostly I'm just pretty excited about the challenge ahead and looking to establish some support and make some new anonymous friends :)

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I am a new manager. I was promoted from within after working as a staff/Charge/Preceptor RN for 12 years. I would suggest reading "The First 90 Days" and "Reality Based Leadership." Will this be a new organization you will be working for? If so, take some time to learn about the organization. Put on scrubs, work the floor to see what staff are dealing with day to day. Ask a lot of questions. Always assume good intent. I have learned that I could have avoided some early missteps by asking more questions before making a decision. Overall I love my job, it is stressful, no lie. I feel like I am drinking from 3 different fire hoses at times. I still love it. It's a great challenge and opportunity for growth. I love problem solving and a good majority of this job is putting out fires. Your job never ends like it did as a staff RN. I'll admit, I long for the days when I could just do my work and go home. I miss that. Find a mentor to help you along the way. There really is no orientation period for managers. It's mostly self directed and figuring out the right people to ask the questions. Reach out to other managers and work on developing those relationships. They are your new peers and help make it feel not so lonely.

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Specializes in diabetic education, dialysis.

I started this thread at the end of April.....update: I'm in the position. Just had 2 weeks of one on one training which was such an advantage (so many before me with little to no "training") I'm overwhelmed but still feel great about my decision to move forward because of course I'm not expected to fully understand it all yet. I know it will be challenging but somewhere deep within I know I'm moving in the right direction.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

I am happy for you, MizChelleRN! Congrats and good luck! Thank you for updating us! :)

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